Assessment Process

Municipalities are the primary units of property tax administration in Wisconsin.

Tax Roll

A separate Property Tax Roll is prepared annually for each of the 1,900 municipalities (taxation districts) in the state. The tax roll is the official record of the amount of taxes levied against property located within the municipality, and of the portion of the tax which will be paid by state tax credits.

Assessment Roll

The names and the property descriptions combined in the tax roll come from the Assessment Roll, which is the official record of the taxable value of property within the municipality. These values determine how much of the total general property tax will be charged to each property taxpayer.

The law requires that the Assessor assess all property not exempt by law, which has any real or marketable value as of January 1st of each year.

Tax Rate / Mill Rate

The local tax rate (also known as mill rate) is determined by dividing the tax levy by the tax base and is often expressed in terms of dollars of tax per $1,000 of value. The tax rate times the individual properties' assessed value indicates the taxes paid in a given tax year.